In the highly developed information society, communication operators provide subscribers with various information services, such as the telephone service, the Internet-access service, the short-message service, as well as different charging methods.
Typical charging methods include but not limited to the following:
1. Duration-based charging: that is, the charging is based upon the time that the subscriber spends on using the service, such as the telephone service. One charging method is that during the use of the service, the charge per unit time is identical, and the charge of the session service at a time is calculated based upon the duration. Another charging method is that the entire use procedure is charged based upon time intervals, and the charge per unit time for each of the time intervals is different, for example, 0.2 yuan/minute is for the first 3 minutes and 0.3 yuan/minute is for more than 3 minutes, then the charging is performed based upon the relationships between the duration and the time intervals and using the different charges per unit time. For example, the charging method is 0.2 yuan/minute for 0-3 minutes and 0.1 yuan/minute for more than 3 minutes. If the duration at a time is 15 minutes, then the charge is 3*0.2+12*0.1=1.8 yuan.
2. Traffic-based charging: it is mainly used for the Internet-access service, and the charging is based upon the quantity of data transferred during the service used by the subscriber. One charging method is that during the service use, the charge per unit traffic is identical, and the charge of the service is calculated based upon the total traffic. Another charging method is to charge based upon traffic segments for the service use, and the charge per unit traffic is different in each of the traffic segments, for example, 0.2 yuan/KB is for the first 1 MB and 0.1 yuan/KB is for more than 1 MB, and then the total charge is calculated based upon the relationships between the total traffic used by the subscriber and the traffic segments and using the different charges per unit traffic. For example, the charging method is 0.2 yuan/KB for 0-1 MB and 0.1 yuan/KB for more than 1 MB. If 1.5 MB is used once, then the charge is 1024*0.2+0.5*1024*0.1=256 yuan.
3. Number-of-times-based charging: the short message service and the call transfer service are mostly used at present, that is, the charge of the service used each time is determined based upon the number of times that service is used.
4. Accumulative charging: the charging is based upon the total quantity of the accumulative duration, traffic or number of times for a certain service used by the subscriber, wherein the unit charge before the total quantity reaches the prescribed accumulative quantity is different from that after the total quantity reaches the prescribed accumulative quantity. For example, in the Internet-access service, 1.0 yuan/hour is for no more than 100-hour accumulative Internet-access duration, and 0.5 yuan/hour is for more than 100-hour accumulative Internet-access duration. For example, if the accumulative Internet-access duration is 70 hours, and the duration of the certain Internet-access is 15 hours, then the charge is 15*1.0=15 yuan due to 70+15<100.
Though the above charging methods meet various charging demands to some extent, they have the following drawbacks:
(1) Lack of generality: a certain charging method is often specific to a certain service. When a new service is provided, it is often unable to meet the required charging demand in the existing charging system, and thereof the existing charging method has to be modified or new charging software has to be developed. For example, if the function of “accumulative charging” has to be added to a “duration-based charging” system, and a bonus of 10-hour and free Internet-access duration is for 100-hour accumulative Internet-access duration, the existing charging method has to be modified.
(2) Complexity and disaccord of configuration methods: different charging methods have different configuration methods. It is required for the subscribers to consider how to convert the charging method into a data structure that can be processed by the software, whereas it is required for the developers to consider how to design the software structure to meet different charging demands, which is one of the major reasons why a new charging method makes it necessary to modify the existing software or develop a new software.
(3) Inflexibility of rate configuration methods: for example a charging demand is that 1.0 yuan/hour is for the Internet-access, and a bonus of 10-hour free duration is for accumulative 100-hour Internet-access duration. If the accumulative Internet-access duration of the subscriber is 98 hours and the current Internet-access duration is 3 hours, then there are two applicable charging methods:
One method is that the charge of the current 3-hour Internet-access is 3*1.0=3 yuan, and the bonus of 10-hour free duration will be used during the next Internet-access until the free hours are used up, which is referred to “later use of onus”.
The other method is that for the current 3-hour Internet-access, the charge is 2*1.0=2 yuan for the 2 hours within the accumulative 100 hours, and the rest 1 hour beyond the accumulative 100 hours takes the free duration of the bonus and thus is not charged. Therefore, the charge is 2*1.0+1*0=2.0 yuan for the current Internet-access, while the remaining free Internet-access duration is recorded as 9 hours for later use, which is referred to as “instant use of bonus.
However, if either method is determined, the charging method cannot be changed to the other, otherwise the software has to be modified.
Furthermore, the existing charging methods are often specific to some certain services, that is, a charging method for one service is quite different from that for another. Therefore, if the operator provides a new service, a new charging method has to be customized, which not only increases the cost of the operator but also results in the disorder of the charging software in the market. Therefore, in order to meet the demands of the operators to develop services, it is rather advantageous for the operators and the subscribers to provide a uniform configuration and calculation method for all the charging methods and to further achieve a general charging method in a uniform structure.